Skeletons in the Closet
by Tenshi-Chan
Summary: AU - What might have happened if Jack had found Lisa in the archives before the events in "Cyberwoman"?  JANTO, Rating may change at a later date.  Please review!
1. Chapter 1

Skeletons in the Closet  
By: Tenshi-Chan

_Disclaimer: I don't own these gorgeous guys, but I do own a composition notebook with their picture on it._

_Note: Check out my Doctor Who crossover called "Ianto Lives" which is a CoE fix-it! You can find it on my page.  
_

Part 1

"Ianto! Would work your magic and bring me a cup of that ambrosia fools call coffee please? I'll be in my office."

Ianto Jones looked up and nodded. When his boss, Jack Harkness, turned to enter said office, he headed for the coffee machine. He worked quickly, wanting to get down to the lowest level of the archives as soon as he could. He needed to check on Lisa before he felt comfortable with doing his usual tasks for the day.

Once the coffee was done, he headed for the office. He knocked twice and entered when he was bade and closed the door behind him. He placed the steaming cup on the desk next to the large flowery coral. "Will there be anything else, Sir?"

Jack glanced up at him from the paperwork he was doing. "Sit a moment, Ianto." When Ianto sat down, Jack put down his pen and steepled his fingers. After looking at him a moment, Jack sighed. "What am I going to do with you?"

Ianto blinked in confusion. "Sir?"

"The way I see it, I have three options. None of which appeal to me since I kind of like you. I can lock you in a cell next to Janet for the rest of your life, kill you, or retcon you and send you to a mental hospital since the amount of retcon I'll need will turn you into a blubbering vegetable." Jack tapped his index fingers together. "OR you can talk to me and give me a reason to not do any of those things."

Ianto swallowed and took in a deep breath. "Sir? I don't..."

Jack cut him off. "I've disposed of the Cyber unit in the basement."

Ianto felt the world drop out from under him at that blunt statement and then his vision narrowed to a pinprick and then vanished completely.

* * *

Awareness returned slowly to Ianto. He was lying on a comfortable surface. His shoes, jacket and tie were gone and his shirt was slightly unbuttoned. Otherwise, he was fully dressed. He became slowly aware of a cool weight on his head as he blinked his eyes open to look around a dark room. He wasn't in the cells, so where was he? He tried to sit up when a hand stopped him.

"Stay down a moment. Damn, Ianto, when was the last time you've eaten?"

Ianto glared at the man. Jack Harkness ... who he had just learned killed the only good thing in his life. "Why should you care?"

The man had the nerve to offer a kind smile. "I care, Ianto, whether you believe it or not. I care enough to keep you from making a monumental mistake, and trying to fix that cyber unit in the basement would have been such a mistake. You're lucky it was me who found it and not Owen, Tosh or Suzie. Lord knows how any of them would have reacted. One of the things that saved your neck was the fact that the thing in the basement looked and probably acted like Lisa Hallett."

Ianto felt his spirit return. "It WAS Lisa! You killed her!"

The older man shook his head sadly. "Ianto ... the Cybermen killed her. I just destroyed the shell that looked like her."

Ianto shoved his boss away and sat up, ignoring the dizzy spell that hit him. "You don't understand! The process was never completed! I could have found a way to cure her!" His breath hitched. "I owed her that much."

Jack's eyes softened and shook his head again. "Oh Ianto ..." He put his hand on Ianto's shoulder. "Look at me." When Ianto complied, Jack made sure to meet his gaze. "There is no cure. Once a person is even one percent converted, there's no going back. What made you think that she would be an exception?" He sighed. "She must have been an amazing person to gain such devotion from you."

Ianto clenched his teeth together and looked away. "So ... what now?"

Jack let his hand drop and ran it through his hair. "Protocol dictates that you should, at the very least, be put on suspension. Damned if I want to do that, though. You've already been through so much. The fact that you kept that thing functional for so long tells me you were actually at the battle of Canary Warf. Otherwise, it would have already shut down on its own." He regarded Ianto a moment, and then nodded. "Considering everything, though, I should send you home for at least today." Then the man looked like he had eaten something sour and spoke again. "Owen is going with you, though. You're too thin and pale and I honestly don't trust you not to do something stupid."

Ianto let his jaw drop. Was he that transparant? "You mean ...?"

Jack nodded. "You're on suicide watch for the time being. I'd go with you, but I highly doubt that you want to have any sort of conversation with me, so it has to be Owen. At least until this afternoon." He motioned to the ladder. "Up you go."

Ianto grudgingly climbed the ladder with Jack not too far behind. He emerged to find himself in Jack's office. He might have been able to make a run for it, but really didn't see the point. He sat down in the chair he had occupied earlier and ignored what was happening around him. While Lisa had been in the basement, he'd had some hope. Now that the hope was gone, he didn't see the point of anything anymore. He was barely aware as Jack called Owen into the office and spoke with him. He only blinked when Owen's slim hand waved in front of his eyes.

"You're right, Jack. The coffee boy looks like a leaf would be too heavy for him to lift." The medic promptly stuck a sterilized thermometer into Ianto's mouth.

"Just remember what I told you."

Ianto wondered if Jack had told Owen everything, but found he couldn't really care. When Owen helped him from the chair, he heard Jack calling his name. He turned to the man.

"We'll talk again later." With that, Jack nodded and Ianto was guided out of the Hub.

* * *

Jack watched Owen lead the youngest member of his staff out of the Hub and dropped his head in his hands. How had he missed it? Had he been that blindsided by a pretty face?

He did feel for the kid. From what he'd heard, Canary Warf had been pure hell for everyone that had been there. Only a handful of people had come out of that battle alive. Fewer still had kept it together enough to function in society. It hadn't been that long ago, and Jack already had gotten word that a few of the survivors had committed suicide. He was worried that the only thing that had kept the young Welshman going was the hope that his girlfriend could be cured.

"I have to fix this." He murmured and touched the coral on his desk. "How am I going to fix this?" He had lived for almost two hundred years, but he still floundered when it came to dealing with another person's problems. He seriously hoped that his error wouldn't cost Ianto his life. The young man had so much promise as a valuable member of his team.

He sighed and shrugged. He still had the hub to run. Later on he'd go to Ianto's place and check up on the Welshman as well as relieve Owen. The doctor had promised to watch Ianto carefully. Owen never admitted it, but he was rather fond of the boy himself. He wanted Ianto to pull through this as much as Jack did.

The day dragged on. The only thing that comforted Jack was the regular call-ins from Owen. He'd checked Ianto out and found he was somewhat malnourished, but healthy. At about lunch time, Jack stood up. He didn't want to wait any more. He grabbed his jacket and headed for the lift. "Suzie, you're in charge. Call me if something comes up. Tosh, run a scan of the Hub. I want to make sure we have everything we should and don't have anything we shouldn't." He wasn't taking any more chances. It disturbed him a little that Ianto had managed to smuggle in the Cyber unit in the first place. Not to mention the hardware that the thing had been hooked up to. It spoke volumes of how much of Ianto's activities he had overlooked. It said even more about just how resourceful Ianto could be. He could have sworn that he saw a few paper clips, staples and hair pins in the sophisticated machinery. That resourcefulness was the main reason why Jack hadn't killed or retconned him.

He stood on the block until it was level with the plass and then merged with the pedestrians. He walked with pruposeful strides to where the SUV was and got into the vehicle. Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, he started the car and drove to Ianto's.


	2. Chapter 2

NOTE: Will write for reviews! =^_^=  
Check out the other fiction on my page for more reading fun!

Skeletons in the Closet  
By: Tenshi-Chan

Part 2

Ianto woke up feeling dazed and confused. It took him a moment to remember what he was doing in bed at such a late hour when he was usually working at the hub at that time of day. When he did, he really wished he hadn't. He felt decidedly sick, but there was nothing left for him to throw up. He'd done it the instant Owen had gotten him home and the truth of the matter had hit him. Lisa was well and truly dead. It had been bad enough seeing her as a half-converted cyber woman, but knowing that he'd never see her again hurt. He had loved her, really he had. She had cared for him at a time when he thought he hadn't mattered to anyone in the world.

He was torn from his remeniscing when the doorknob turned. He curled on his side and closed his eyes again as the door opened. Jack had put him on a suicide watch, after all. He doubted there was anything in the room he could use to do the deed anyway.

"You're not fooling me, mate." Owen's voice was filled with compassion. "But I've been where you are, so I know you would rather just lie there. I'll leave you to it, but remember I'm right outside."

Ianto snorted as Owen left the room. As if he would ever confide in the snarky man who admitted that he was a twat. And who was he to say he'd been in Ianto's shoes? He highly doubted the man had seen all of his co-workers get taken into the room, one-by-one, only to come out as those nightmarish things. The only thing that had saved him wasn't that he had hidden. It was because whatever had stopped the cybermen had done it before they had finished strapping him into the conversion unit. He could still see the blades hovering over his head, ready to start the process. He sighed and wondered how Jack would react if Ianto told him that the conversion unit keeping Lisa alive had been the one intended to turn him into a cyberman. Rather than repulse and frighten Ianto, it had made him feel that he was holding her. She had given him such a sweet smile when he had told her. That was before the pain became too much for her.

That's when he remembered the pills he kept. They were hidden in his mattress, and he doubted anyone would think to look there. He hid them there because one or two pills could be hidden from the many detectors, but it was too dangerous to carry a bottle of pills into work every day, and he wasn't sure Owen would take his word for it that they were vitamins, and he wasn't sure how sensitive the sensors in the hub were. They were hidden in his mattress because he remembered Yvonne being fond of performing spot-checks for alien tech and other substances in the employees homes, and hadn't been sure if the leader of Torchwood 3 was the same. The medication was a strong pain-killer, and would raise too many questions if it were in the open. Questions he couldn't answer.

He moved as quickly as his shaking hands would let him. He had no idea how often Owen checked on him, and wanted to swallow them before the man could stop him. He fumbled with the fitted sheet and smiled when he found the zipper. He quickly pulled at the tab and reached into the little hole in the foam that he had put there. He had to move carefully because he didn't want the pills to rattle too much. It seemed to take forever, but he managed to get the bottle open.

He paused only for a moment before deciding that he was already in Hell without Lisa and popped the entire bottle into his mouth. A few of the pills scattered, but he didn't pay attention to them. Three or four fewer wouldn't make that much of a difference. He quickly dry-swallowed the pills, needing to swallow several times to keep from coughing the mass out. Then he lay back and closed his eyes.

* * *

Jack knocked a few times on the door and couldn't keep the worry from his face when Owen answered. "How is he?"

Owen jerked his head towards a door in the apartment. "I checked him about two minutes ago. He was pretending to be asleep."

Jack groaned. "Owen! You were supposed to stay WITH him! Make sure he doesn't do anything stupid." He strode for the door.

"Why? He doesn't have anything that ... oh bloody HELL!" Owen ran in as soon as he saw Ianto on the bed with several pills and an empty bottle on the floor. "There wasn't anything here! I checked!"

Jack watched as the doctor hauled Ianto into the bathroom and induced vomiting to get as much of whatever Ianto had swallowed out of his system so they could get the Welshman back to the hub for proper poison control. He crossed his arms and shook his head. "Probably hid it someplace. You never know when or how a suicidal person will act. It's why there's a phrase called 'suicide WATCH.' You watch the person, not just keep an eye on them." He sighed. He hadn't wanted to take more extreme measures. "This was a bad idea. I should have kept him in the Hub. I just thought that if he were at home, in familiar surroundings, he'd be more comfortable."

Over Ianto's coughing, Owen barked out a laugh. "Take a look around, boss. This place hasn't been a home for a long time, if ever. Kid's got the bare furnishings. There aren't any mementos or photos or anything of the sort that says 'Ianto Jones lives here.' The kitchen is barely stocked. I think he spends most of his time at the hub and only ever came here to sleep ... if he even did that much here. For all I know he just had this place to keep up appearances."

Jack looked around and had to admit that Owen had a point. The place was bare of anything save a sofa, the bed in the master bedroom, and a set of dishes that might have been picked up at a corner store or a garage sale. There was a television, but Jack had the feeling that some little old lady had given it to Ianto out of sympathy that the boy hadn't had one. He turned back to the bathroom where Owen had just finished getting a glass of water down Ianto's throat, only to induce vomiting again. "As soon as you think he'll live long enough, get him back to the Hub. I'll go on ahead to clear Tosh and Suzie out."

He felt ill himself as he made his way to the car. Ianto was so young ... much too young to be going out like Romeo. He knew Owen, though, and he knew his medic would do everything in his power to keep Ianto alive. Things kept getting worse and worse for that kid, and Jack felt like he was powerless to stop it. He sat down heavily in the SUV. "Give me a shit load of Weevils and about four or five Hoix all at the same time any day. I'd rather be dealing with them than with this mess that I'm partially responsible for."

He shook his head and started the car. Of course Ianto felt like he had nothing to live for or look forward to. He spent most of his days being ignored unless they wanted something done. Jack remembered, with a twinge of guilt, that he had taken Owen, Tosh and Suzie to a nearby restaurant the other night and had asked Ianto to watch the Hub for them. It was never the young Welshman's turn to be included in the group. Now that he thought of it, Jack couldn't remember giving Ianto the basic gun training. He'd just assumed Ianto knew the basics since the kid had worked at Torchwood 1.

He had conveniently forgotten that Yvonne didn't waste money training everyone with basic weapons. She had a select group of guards, and everyone else pretty much did the one thing they were hired for. Ianto had been pretty much the same thing at Torchwood 1 as he was at the Hub, a glorified tea-boy. Jack made a vow in that car to become more involved in the lives of his team. It was time he double checked and stopped taking things for granted. The last time he had, he'd come back to the Hub one New Year's Eve to the gruesome image of all the people he had worked with dead except for their leader, who had given command of Torchwood 3 to Jack before killing himself.

He wasn't going to let that tragedy happen again. He'd sooner give up waiting for the Doctor. With that thought firmly in mind, he started to plan as he drove towards the Hub.

To Be Continued ...


	3. Chapter 3

NOTE: Will write for reviews! =^_^=  
Check out the other fiction on my page for more reading fun!

Skeletons in the Closet  
By: Tenshi-Chan

Part 3

Owen rubbed Ianto's back as the younger man regained his breath. He knew that inducing vomiting was not a very good way to flush anything out of the system, but he hoped it would prevent further absorption. Once he was back at the hub with Ianto, he'd decide what further action he would need to take. "Right then. You're going to be mad as hell once you come to your senses, but that's the price you pay for pulling something like this." He wiped Ianto's mouth with a piece of toilet paper and flushed the bowl one last time as he hefted the semi-conscious Welshman to his feet. After waiting as Ianto rinsed his mouth out with mouth wash, he practically dragged Ianto out of his flat and down to the car, stopping once to lock the door as they left. He grumbled the whole way about stupid kids even once they were both inside the vehicle and on the way to the hub.

"You know ... I handled the death of my Katie in a very different way. Instead of wanting to kill myself, I wanted to kill Jack. You kill yourself, you miss out on all the good stuff that can happen once the shit you feel like starts to fade." He glanced over at Ianto, who was blinking stupidly. "You'll be lucky if Jack doesn't strap you to a bed for pulling that stunt." He snorted. "Knowing Jack, though, he might just strap you to a bed regardless." He sighed and shook his head. "Lucky for both of us you only tried to overdose on Valium. There was not enough in that bottle to even cause the worst of overdose symptoms."

Ianto looked confused. "The bottle said Diazepam."

Owen chuckled darkly. "It was, and Diazepam is another name for Valium. You would have been loopy for a while, but it wouldn't have killed you. Unless, of course, you had gotten drunk at the same time."

After a moment of thoughtful silence, Ianto spoke again. "My girlfriend was a half-converted cyberwoman in the basement of the Hub."

Owen nearly slammed on the breaks at that unexpected announcement. "SHIT! Are you insane?"

Ianto sighed. "Lisa was still human."

Owen sighed. "Doubt it. Have you read up on the Cybermen? Everyone at the Hub did, right after Canary Wharf. Them and the Daleks. Jack wanted us to know just what Yvonne had opened her people up for. Damn egotistical woman." He snorted. "Her and her 'If it's alien, it's ours.' crap." He glanced over to see Ianto looking out the window. His eyes were still open. "Damn stupid kid."

* * *

Jack looked from Suzie to Tosh and back. He hadn't told them the whole truth, just like he hadn't told Owen. He only said that Ianto had recently learned that his girlfriend was dead. "So, ladies, any questions?"

"Will Ianto be all right? I mean ... I don't know how I'd react if I found out someone I loved was dead, but to consider killing yourself like that is beyond me." Tosh shook her head sadly. "Poor Ianto. He's so young!"

Jack nodded. "Owen is bringing him in. I'm going to send you both home for the day and save Ianto some embarassment."

Tosh was on her feet instantly. "Of course! You'll let me know if I can do anything to help, won't you?"

Jack smiled at her. "Thanks, Tosh. I'll let you know, but I'm sure Owen has the situation well in hand. I'll see the two of you in the morning if there are no alerts before then." He watched them leave and waited impatiently for Owen to arrive. He pulled out the bottle that had held the pills Ianto had swallowed and looked at it. He had been so frantic about the Welshman's life that he hadn't even bothered to look at it before.

He blinked and then chuckled mirthlessly. Of all the things Ianto could have on hand to try and kill himself, it had to be a bottle of Diazepam. He looked up at the alarms going off and shook his head at the sight of Owen with his hand firmly at the back of Ianto's collar as if he were directing a naughty school boy into the Headmaster's office. "So what have we here?"

Owen sat Ianto down on the old sofa and turned to Jack. "I was gonna do a stomach pump, but I think I got most of it out of him. What should we do in the mean time?"

Jack regarded the archivist a moment before speaking. "Ianto ... you're still so young. What makes you think killing yourself is the answer to anything?" There was no answer to that question, so he took a different tactic. "Would Lisa have wanted you to end your life? Do you honestly think she would have wanted you to die?"

"Big words from the man who killed her."

Jack shot a glance at Owen, who's only response was a raised eyebrow. The medic raised his hands at Jack's questioning look. "Kid told me about him keeping a cyberman in the basement. I dunno, but I think the teaboy was hoping I'd shoot him. Either that or get in a car accident."

Jack nodded and walked over to sit down next to Ianto. "Look ... I didn't kill your girlfriend, Ianto, the Cybermen did. No matter how much it looked and sounded like Lisa, it wasn't her any more."

Ianto shook his head. "But the way she spoke to me when she was awake. She knew things only Lisa would know."

"Considering that Cybermen have human brains, that would actually fit. Look at me." He waited as the downcast young man turned to meet his gaze. "That Cyber unit was just using you. It acted like Lisa because that was in its best interest." He held up a finger to prevent Ianto from objecting. "What were you planning on doing? What I might have done in your place is find the best cybernetics researcher out there. Your goal was to hopefully undo what was done, right?" When Ianto nodded, Jack sighed. "I wish it were that simple. It would have played an innocent victim ... still very human and very loving until it was no longer dependent on the conversion unit for its survival. At which time, its initial programming would have taken over. Was it your idea to keep the conversion unit fully operational?" Jack was immensely relieved when, after a moment of thought, Ianto reluctantly shook his head.

"Lisa said it would be best ... that it would keep her stable." He looked absolutely miserable for the second that Jack could clearly see his face before he leaned forward to put his head in his hands. "I can't believe that it wasn't her."

Jack felt a wave of rage on Ianto's behalf. It wasn't enough that the cybermen had disrupted what should have been a relatively peaceful life, but the last one that Jack knew about had to go and play with the young Welshman's emotions. "Cybermen are very logical, Ianto. They tap into what information they have at their disposal and use it to their best advantage. Since it had access to your girlfriend's memories, it knew just what buttons to push to make you do what it wanted you to do. Given enough time, it would have regained full functions and started converting people with the very same conversion unit that you kept it in." He shrugged. "Who knows? By the time it was done, you would have probably gotten yourself converted willingly."

Ianto paled at that comment and started to tremble. "Never. I would have never gotten into that thing willingly."

Jack and Owen shared a look before Jack acted on his intuition and pulled Ianto into a tight hug. "Hey ... it's okay. I destroyed it." His limited telepathic abilities allowed him to catch a brief flash of the nightmare that a person sitting in one of the conversion units would see, and he understood. There was more to this seemingly unassuming Welshman that met the eye.

To Be Continued ...


	4. Chapter 4

**Skeletons in the Closet**

_A Torchwood fic_

By: Tenshi-Chan_  
_

* * *

Part 4

* * *

Jack was sitting at his desk reading an Email from his contact at UNIT while waiting for Owen. He'd told the team medic to look into Ianto's medical history. He really hoped that the young man didn't have suicidal tendencies. He looked up as Owen entered with a grimace on his face. "What have you got for me?"

Owen held up a folder. "A compiled medical file that's about four inches thick." He dropped the thick folder onto Jack's desk. "He's been in and out of A&E since he was a kid. Never the same hospital twice in a row. Now I don't have to be a doctor to know the signs of someone who's suffered a lifetime of abuse when I see them." He sat down and gazed at the folder darkly. "The stuff that happened when he was a kid is bad enough ... what really pisses me off is that it was happening up to what happened at Torchwood One." Then he tapped the folder. "I want to do a full physical on the kid."

Jack looked at the first few sheets that had what might have seemed like ordinary childhood injuries to the untrained eye. Then he caught the dark tone in Owen's voice. "Why?"

Owen looked around. "Because he was just in the A&E last week with some minor burns. I thought 'Okay ... he spilled tea or something like that.' Until I read the report." He paused as he weighed his options. "I'd like to know how in the bloody hell he managed to spill anything on the small of his back." He clenched his fists. "You didn't do it, and I sure as hell didn't do it. Tosh wouldn't hurt anyone and you said that the cyber-woman was incapable of movement. I don't like what that narrows it down to."

Jack froze at the implication.

Owen looked at Jack sadly. "Tell me I'm wrong, Jack. Tell me that our Tea-Boy isn't being used by one of our own as a guinea pig."

Jack looked at the description of Ianto's latest "accident" ... second degree burns in an unusual starburst pattern and felt a sinking feeling as he remembered something that could cause such a pattern. "Damn it."

Owen sighed. "That's what I thought. What are we going to do?"

Jack glanced at the hatch to his bunk where Ianto was currently sleeping. "We put a stop to it before anyone else gets hurt in the name of research." He shook his head. "Why put up with it? Ianto is incredibly intelligent and quite attractive ..."

"Stop right there before you say something that'll scar me for life." Owen scowled and tapped the folder again. "He's been abused his whole life, Jack, by one person or another. A person gets beat down long enough, they start to believe they deserve it."

Jack sighed and looked into a few of his older records. "It almost makes me want to take him out to dinner once or twice to show him that not everyone is out to hurt him."

Owen shook his head. "I wouldn't if I were you, Jack. Might cause him more harm than good. Keep up your usual banter with him. He might make the first move. If and when he does, and you want that kind of relationship with him ... I'll adopt a 'don't ask, don't tell' attitude."

Jack nodded and looked over as the hatch opened and a slightly sleep-mussed Ianto emerged. "Hey!"

Ianto closed the hatch and straightened his clothes as best as he could without pressing them. "What happened?"

Owen snorted. "In essence, you took a couple of Valium and slept a few hours." He then folded his arms. "Before the day's over, I want you on the examination table so I can give you a thorough looking over. I wanna know just what other injuries you're hiding."

Ianto glanced over at Jack and paled when he saw his name on the folder. "Oh Lord."

Jack sighed and shook his head. "Why didn't you tell me what Suzie was doing?"

Ianto fidgeted a bit before answering. "She said if I did, she'd tell you about Lisa and then I may as well be signing my own death certificate."

Jack clenched his teeth and forced himself not to throw something. 'She had no right.' Then he took a breath before he spoke again. "So she knew about the Cyber Unit?" At Ianto's nod, Jack growled. "Then it was not up to her to keep that secret. I'm sorry, Ianto, but as soon as she knew, she should have come to me. Instead she used her knowledge to blackmail you into submitting yourself to her tests. She took her authority and abused it, and I won't have that."

Ianto looked absolutely floored. "What are you going to do?"

Jack smiled without mirth. "Give her a talking to that she won't remember."

* * *

Owen was sickened to the very core as he finished his examinations. He took great care not to take any of his rage out on Ianto, who kept shooting Owen looks as he got dressed. "Go on and sit down. You've been through Hell today and your hands are shaking." He gave Ianto a rare, brief smile, and took his notes up to Jack.

He glanced at the paper and felt sick again. Not only as a doctor, but as a regular human being. It made matters much worse since he had only recently been shagging the weapons specialist. He took a deep breath before entering. "I'm not entirely sure you want to see this now, Jack."

Jack stood up and walked over with his hand out. When he had the report, he walked back to the desk and leaned against it. "Spit it out."

Owen grimaced. "About the only bits of the tea boy that aren't injured are his face and hands ... basically what we see. Just about everywhere else is bruised, burned, cut, what have you. His torso was bandaged by an amature ... possibly he bandaged himself. He has a couple of bruised ribs along with the burn on his back. His arms, legs and back are riddled with scars, and it's a miracle that he can walk around since his feet look like raw hamburger. Lord knows when he last had a proper meal since those suits he wears hide the fact that he's greatly underweight. Once this fiasco with Suzie is over, I want him in a hospital where he can get the proper care he needs."

Jack scowled. "I'm taking it that you've severely edited the report." He sighed and looked out into the hub. "I'd rather keep him here where he'll be around people he knows. We have resources here that regular hospitals just don't have." He drummed his fingers on the desk and considered various options. "All right ... come on." He walked out of the office.

Owen followed and stood back as Jack approached Ianto, who looked small and apprehensive.

Jack was silent a moment. "In a about an hour, Suzie will be back in to work. Tosh usually comes in a little later. I want you to act as if nothing has changed. Go about fixing the coffee and whatever it is you usually do."

Owen gaped at Jack, but closed his mouth against the objection he had.

"Now that I know what's going on, she has no power over you. When she leaves here, she'll have no power over anyone." He pulled out a small bottle and emptied out some of it's contents in front of Ianto. "For Suzie's coffee. That's why you have to prepare it. It's doubtful that she'll suspect it coming from you." When Ianto took the pills, Jack's eyes softened a little. "Once Suzie's been dealt with, you have a couple of options."

Ianto blinked in confusion.

"You can stay here and let us look after you or go to a hospital. I have the authority to order you to do one or the other, but you deserve some say over your care." Jack walked over to sit down. "Once you've healed up, you have another choice. You can keep working here as a proper member of the team, or I could retcon you and get you a nice job in whatever field you want. Hell ... with what you've gone through, you deserve to be set up as an independently wealthy young man who just won the lottery."

Owen smirked at Ianto's shock. "Looks like you severely underestimated the boss, Ianto. So ... what's it gonna be?"

Ianto sighed and thought a moment. "I'd rather Owen looking after me than another strange doctor." He worried at his lip. "As for what to do after, I just can't see myself as anywhere else but here."

Owen nodded and stepped forward. "Right, then. First thing I intend to do is see to those feet. How the bloody hell are you walking?"

Ianto shrugged. "I guess I just learned to ignore it."

Owen growled a little. "No more ignoring your pains, Tea-boy. You're going to have to do a little walking once Suzie gets in, but I can give you something that will dull the pain while you're on your feet." He was gentle as he took one of Ianto's damaged feet in his hands. "This should kick in before she gets here, and I'll give you a couple of pain killers that won't react with whatever Valium is still in your system." The sigh Ianto let escape as Owen slathered some of the ointment on spoke volumes. He wondered how long it had been since Ianto had experienced a day free from pain. If he had anything to do about it, he'd make sure Ianto's life was as pain-free as possible from that day onward.

* * *

_To be Continued..._


	5. Chapter 5

**Skeletons in the Closet**

_A Torchwood Fic_

By: Tenshi-Chan

* * *

**Part 5**

* * *

Ianto moved about the Hub's kitchenette with some slight difficulty due to the stiffness he felt, but it was no where near the agony he'd been in only recently. Quite honestly, it was sheer bliss.

"You should be resting, not doing chores." Owen's normally snarky voice was softer than usual. There was the undertone of genuine caring that Ianto was not used to.

Ianto offered a weak smile. "I can't stand being idle. Something that's been conditioned into me, I guess. I start to get anxious if I'm left with nothing to do for too long."

Owen carefully grabbed Ianto's elbow and guided him back to the main Hub. "All right, but get off your feet. Relax on the sofa and I'll go see about rounding up a laptop so you can do some sort of research or something until Suzie gets in."

Ianto had to admit that it was a blessed relief to sit down. If he had known how understanding Jack and Owen were, he would have told them weeks ago about everything. He closed his eyes a moment, only to open them when Jack's distinctive foot fall approached him. He looked up at his boss who seemed to be regarding him.

Jack sighed. "All right. Here's how it's going to work today. If you don't feel up to seeing Suzie, that's fine and I understand. We'll keep your interaction with her to a bare minimum. Regardless, you are on very light duties until Owen clears you. All right? Owen and I will tend to cleaning the cells and feeding Myfanwy and Tosh will be bringing in coffee and doing the food runs. Suzie won't be an issue." He shook his head. "It's going to be tough until you're cleared for more active duty. Once you are, though, I want to start training you for the field."

Ianto blinked in shock. "You'll trust me enough for that?"

Jack smiled one of those dazzling smiles at him and nodded. "Your heart was in the right place. It was just your mentality that was misguided. Probably by the same thing you were struggling to save." He seemed more relaxed. "That is the kind of loyalty I'm looking for in my team. I just want to know if you could ever be as loyal to this team as you were to Lisa."

Owen called over. "Suzie's on her way in, Jack! We better get into positions."

Ianto eased himself onto his feet and looked around. The hub was tidy and he was pleased that he wouldn't have much to do. He turned and headed for the coffee machine.

* * *

Jack hoped everything went well today. The sooner this unpleasantness with Suzie was over, the sooner Ianto could get the rest he needed and deserved to heal. He picked up a file and started going through it. It was a report on something Tosh was working on, and Jack was pleased to see she was making a good amount of progress. He looked up as the Hub door opened and forced a smile as Suzie walked in. "Suzie! Good morning!"

Suzie gave him a smile in return. It looked sincere, but Jack saw that the smile didn't reach her eyes. She was more of a traitor than Ianto. Ianto had hidden the cyberwoman in the basement out of desire to save someone he loved. Suzie used Ianto as a guinea pig for no reason other than the fact that she had power over him.

Jack closed the folder. "I want a status update on what you're working on before Tosh gets in, when she can explain some of the technical terms she's using in her report." He put the folder onto Tosh's desk.

"Oi!" Owen called up. "Can I join you? Sometimes Tosh's technobabble gives me a headache the size of Big Ben!"

Suzie froze when she saw Owen. "Aren't you supposed to be watching Ianto?"

Owen nodded. "I am. Teaboy said he needed to feel useful. That working would help keep his mind off things. I was concerned because of his attempt to end his life, but figured that he'd be fine going about his set routine."

As if on cue, Ianto came into view walking carefully. Jack had always assumed that Ianto had done so to keep from distracting everyone with loud footsteps, but now he knew better.

Jack grinned when he saw Ianto carrying a tray with coffee. "Oh perfect timing, Ianto. You know you really didn't have to. I wanted you to rest. You are grieving, after all."

"I needed to feel useful, Sir," Ianto replied. He handed Owen his mug, placed Jack's on his desk and held Suzie's out to her.

Suzie took it, still smiling, if only slightly. She raised it to her lips, the three men watching her carefully. Then she paused and her smile disappeared. "What kind of an idiot do you take me for?" she asked.

Abruptly, she swung out with the hand holding the mug and bashed it against Owen's head. Owen crashed to the floor. Even as Owen was falling, Suzie was still moving, bringing her arm up and around Ianto's shoulders as her free hand pulled a sidearm from a holster hanging from the back of her belt. Her aim was steadily focused on Jack. "I knew something was up when you mentioned Ianto's girlfriend dying. I figured it was only a matter of time before my favorite test subject spilled his guts."

Jack held out his hands. "What are you planning on doing?"

Suzie smirked. "After I kill you? I'm going to delete the CCTV footage and take Ianto someplace where I can continue my tests." She tilted her head. "Pity about Tosh. She'll probably end up back in the UNIT detention facility since their agreement was with you and not Torchwood. I suppose I could contact them and renew the agreement because I really do like her."

Ianto gazed at Owen in shock. The doctor looked very pale and he was bleeding from a wound on his head. Ianto had no idea if he was just unconsious, or dying.

"And Owen?" Jack's tone stated he was trying to be reasonable. "He knows about Ianto's past."

Suzie tilted her head in consideration. "I'll think of something. I usually do, after all. You're the only one too dangerous to keep around. I've always hated how you talk about us like we're children playing with a pack of matches when you should have been teaching us how those matches work."

Jack's voice was calm. "Suzie. Put the gun down."

Suzie's voice was full of venom. "Why? So you can Retcon me to childhood? Don't you see? Ianto is a perfect test subject! He's cut off all ties with his family, and he was hired by Torchwood 1 and their tests and training procedures are more advanced than ours! He can withstand so much more than some of the vagrants off the street."

Jack looked positively ill. "Ianto isn't the first? How long have you been doing this?"

Ianto felt Suzie shrug. Her hold on him wasn't secure, but it didn't need to be. In the hand on his arm, he could feel a tiny alien device that was easily concealed, but would deliver a nasty shock if activated. He remembered it all too well and never wanted to be on the receiving end of one of those shocks again. His best guess is that it was the alien equivalent of a joy buzzer. Not fatal, probably just annoying to whatever alien race it belonged to, but it had knocked him out and made his limbs shake uncontrollably for hours after he had come to. That day had not been pleasant.

"Pretty much since you hired me. The technology needed testing." She grunted. "I'm done talking. Too bad you're too much of a risk. You're damn gorgeous." With that, she calmly pulled the trigger and shot Jack.

Ianto didn't see where Jack was shot, just that the man went reeling. He jumped when he felt a sting on his arm. Suzie had activated the device.

Suzie smiled sweetly. "I just need to keep you subdued while I delete the CCTV footage. In a few days, I'll come back. If there are any questions, I'll just say you attacked us all and that I'm keeping you in a cell."

The last thing Ianto saw before his mind was enveloped by blackness was Suzie's smug expression.

* * *

Owen groaned as he came to. His head hurt like he was experiencing a hundred hangovers at once. He brought his hand up and grimaced when it came away sticky and wet with his blood. He couldn't remember what had happened. He blinked when Jack entered his field of vision. "What the Hell happened?"

Jack had a cloth and dabbed at Owen's injury. "What's the last thing you remember?"

Owen furrowed his brows in thought. "Getting up to come in to work. Christ! How did I get here?" He looked around. "Where's Ianto?"

Tosh's voice floated down sounding thinck as if she'd been crying. "Suzie has him. I'm trying to follow where she went with him on CCTV, but she's good."

Owen closed his eyes. "Fuck! We have to find them! Who knows what she's got planned." Then he felt the sting of antiseptic and hissed. "Again I ask. What ... the HELL ... happened?"

Jack sighed. "We were going to retcon Suzie when she came in, but it looks like she knew what we were planning. She hit you with a mug and it looks like she gave you a mild dose of retcon so you wouldn't remember it. Then she shot me. She must have thought she killed me."

Owen gave Jack a sharp look. "You okay? Where were you hit?"

Jack took off his coat to show he was wearing something underneath it. It looked like the waistcoat he sometimes wore, but there were differences. the most noticeable difference was what looked like a dent over Jack's heart. "Just testing something out." He replaced the coat and started dressing Owen's injury while talking to Tosh. "After I finish tending to you, I'm going out to look on foot. I have a few contacts in the area. We have to get Ianto back as quickly as possible. Now that she thinks she has no one to stop her, she's not going to hold back with her testing like she has been."

Owen swallowed to keep himself from losing his breakfast. If what she had been doing to the Tea Boy was holding back, he didn't want to think of what she would do now. "Didn't Torchwood One implant tracking devices in their staff?"

Jack sighed and shook his head. "Thought of that, but it was only done for their field agents and Ianto was a junior researcher." He sighed and then snapped his fingers. "It's so SIMPLE it might work!" He spun and ran up the stairs. "Tosh ... try calling Suzie on her mobile."

"WHAT?" Owen sat up and winced at the wave of dizziness before he slowly stood and made his way carefully up the stairs. "Are you loony?"

Jack shook his head. "Suzie mentioned something about really liking Tosh and expressed a concern about what might happen to her. If Tosh calls her sounding frantic about finding me dead and you unconscious, she might be on the phone with Suzie long enough to get a lock on her."

Tosh stopped typing and hung her head. "I don't want to talk to her."

Jack sighed and turned placed a hand on her shoulder. "I know, Tosh, and I understand. Can you do it for Ianto, though? We need to get him back here where he'll get the treatment he needs."

Tosh sighed and turned to look at them. Then dug into her small handbag and pulled out her mobile phone. After activating the tracing program, she pressed a couple of keys and started to breathe rapidly to imitate the sound of someone panicking. "Suzie? Suzie, is that you? Where are you? I just got to the Hub! Jack is dead and Owen can't remember anything!" She sniffled and closed her eyes. "No. No I checked the CCTV and a whole block has been deleted! What happened?" Her fist clenched and Owen had to wonder what yarn Suzie was spinning. "What? Why would Ianto do that? I thought Owen and Jack were helping him deal with the loss of ..."

Tosh went pale and gave the two of them a look of horrified disbelief. "WHAT? Oh, my GOD! What was he thinking?"

Owen gave Jack a look and saw the man wince.

Jack held up both hands to Tosh in surrender and then a single finger in silent promise to explain.

Tosh nodded in understanding before turning her attention to the conversation she was having. "What's going to happen now, Suzie? What am I going to do? With Jack dead, there's nothing to keep me from going back to UNIT." He voice cracked with genuine fear. Then she scowled. "I don't know if they'll listen to you." He face went horrified, then she swallowed. "I suppose I COULD stay in the Hub for the rest of my probation period, but with Jack gone and Ianto in the cells, it'll just be you and Owen in the field." She glanced at the computer and noticed that the trace was nearly complete. "When will you be coming back? I'll feel a little better once things with UNIT are settled."

The computer noted that the trace was complete and Owen cleared his throat. "Oi, Tosh! Is that Suzie?"

Tosh looked over. "Yeah."

Owen held out his hand and smiled when Tosh handed him the phone. "Ta!" He held the phone to his ear. "Oi! What the bloody hell happened? One second, I'm getting ready for work, then I'm here with Tosh looking like someone shot one of her best friends dead and then I find out someone DID shoot one of her best friends dead."

Suzie was silent a moment before she answered. "Ianto attacked you and killed Jack before bolting. He must have deleted the CCTV footage because Tosh says there's nothing there. Once I saw what had happened, I ran right out after him. He's dangerous, Owen. Do you know he had a cyberwoman in the basement?"

Owen swore. "Bloody hell. What was he thinking?"

"It had been his girlfriend at one point. Jack killed it and disposed of the remains. My guess is he killed Jack for revenge. I'm glad he only knocked you out." She was silent a moment. "I think I have him trapped. Once I manage to restrain him, I'll bring him in so we can lock him in a cell." She was silent another second and, in a beautiful bout of acting, she queried. "Are you sure Jack's dead? I was hoping that I had just checked the wrong place for the pulse." The sadness in her tone would have won her an award.

Owen wasn't a bad actor himself. "Yeah. I'm gonna do an autopsy then get him in storage and have Tosh clean his office. You be careful, okay?"

"I always am. Later!"

With that, the call was disconnected.

As soon as Tosh had her phone, Jack sighed. "He thought he could save what he was convinced was his girlfriend, Tosh. For that, I can't fault him. If he had been keeping it with the intention of world domination, he would have been locked in a cell next to Janet or RetConned. And those were the better two options." He shook his head. "Whatever he did, Suzie was aware of it and used it to blackmail him into being her own personal guinea pig. No one deserves that sort of treatment."

Tosh was silent for a moment. "So he kept a cyberman in the basement thinking he could reverse the process and save his girlfriend?" When Jack nodded, the expression on her face became one of understanding. "Just like I stole those plans and built the sonic disruptor to save my mother." Jack nodded again and Tosh smiled. "I can't blame him, either."

Jack beamed then he clapped his hands together. "You have a fix on her?"

Tosh nodded and turned to the computer. "Sending her location to your mobile."

Jack spun and headed for the lift. "I'm going after her." He quickly checked his Webley and picked up a pair of cuffs before continuing. "Owen ... stay here in case she does come back. Tosh, if she moves, let me know. I'm bringing Ianto home with or without Suzie."

Owen watched him leave and whistled. "I'd hate to be in Suzie's shoes when Jack finds her."

Tosh, normally the sweetest of them all, snarled as if she were channeling the spirit of a dragon. "Whatever he does will be no less than she deserves."

* * *

To Be Continued ...

* * *

**_Author's Note:_**_ Earlier this year, I mentioned that there were some problems going on. I am sad to say that, shortly after my last major update, there was a death in my family. It's taken me this long to regain some semblance of normalcy. I hope to get back into a writing scedule soon. As always, my thanks goes to Keara for being a friend through this difficult time._


	6. Chapter 6

**Skeletons in the Closet**

_Part 6_

* * *

Suzie disconnected the phone with a pleased smile. "They don't suspect a thing. I'll contact UNIT in the morning and arrange something for Tosh. I'm glad I didn't have to kill Owen. He's rather good in the sack." She turned to where Ianto was weakly trying to curl away from her. "Now you have been a very naughty boy, Ianto. Didn't I tell you that if you went to Jack, your life would be forfeit?" She walked over and patted him on the cheek. "Now you get all the rest you can while you have the chance." She ignored the pathetic whimper she got in response and turned her attention to the desk in front of her. She would have to start deprogramming her people in Pilgrim. Now that she was head of Torchwood 3, there would be no need for them. "I think the final test for you will be that glove. Jack wasn't willing to test it on humans, but to kill you and bring you back for those two minutes knowing you were going to die again will be just delicious."

She had a lot of things she wanted to change in the Hub. For one thing, she always believed Jack was way too lenient with the aliens that thought of Cardiff as a playground. She felt that Torchwood tower had been right about it. If it's alien, it belongs to Torchwood. Then there was the secured weapons and artifacts. So many interesting objects needed to be handled. She picked up the bandages she had stripped from Ianto's feet. She was certain he wouldn't be going anywhere, so she headed to another room.

She took out a note book and turned to a fresh page. She'd kept track of all her experiments in this book. She hadn't dared to take it to the Hub, for fear of it being discovered. That was no longer a problem. The first thing she noted was the exact dose of the drug she had injected into Ianto when he had started getting a bit spirited. The results had been quite pleasing. She was looking forward to seeing what side effects there would be. Then she wrote down what new experiments she had performed. She couldn't do much without her equipment, but she could still do a few things with the tech she had smuggled out of the Hub.

It was a good fifteen minutes before she finished a report Ianto would be proud of. She snickered at that thought. She had always hated filling out those stupid forms. It was a marvel that Ianto wasn't pleased with her thoroughness. Once she put the final touch on the report, she put everything away. She dusted off her hands and went back to where she had left Ianto.

The smile on her face faded when she saw that Ianto was nowhere to be seen. She saw the trail of blood from his injured feet and relaxed until she heard the unmistakable sound of rain coming from outside. He could have been anywhere.

"Shit!" Then everything went to hell for her.

* * *

Jack drove with grim determination. There was no telling what Suzie had done to Ianto in the precious time it had taken him to revive. He would have already been out looking, but he hadn't wanted to leave Owen alone. Then he'd had to figure out a viable reason as to just why he wasn't dead. Then Tosh had come in while Owen had been unconscious and he'd had to keep her from getting upset. He tapped his bluetooth. "Tosh? Tell me I'm getting close!"

"You're practically on top of where her signal came from." Tosh sounded distressed. "I only hope she didn't suspect anything and run. Worse, yet, she could kill Ianto if she thinks him a liability."

"That won't happen, Tosh!" He said it with much more conviction than he felt. He hated that he hadn't seen the possibility of Suzie seeing through the ruse. He supposed it was his fault for bringing Ianto into the whole mess that morning. He saw a building with its door wide open and decided to try it.

No sooner had he stopped the car than he had grabbed a dart gun. If he could, he'd take Suzie in alive and Retcon her enough to be sent to Flat Holm. That would be a fitting end to the woman for her crimes. He couldn't believe he had misjudged her so badly. She had worked with the police before he had hired her. He'd liked the way she could see what criminals were thinking. Perhaps that should have been his big clue. Sometimes what made a good criminal profiler was someone who could very easily become a criminal themselves. He strolled in just in time to hear Suzie's soft exclamation. He walked right into her line of sight and took advantage of her surprise. "Where is he? What have you done with Ianto?"

Suzie stared at him, shocked. "Impossible! You're dead! I shot you right between the eyes!"

Jack smirked at her. "I got better! Now answer my question!"

"Even if I knew, I wouldn't tell you!" Suzie sniffed derisively. "He's gone. I turned my back on him for five minutes and then he was gone."

Jack looked around and saw evidence of the fact that Suzie was telling the truth. There was also evidence that the young Welshman had undergone a round of torture at his former second's hands. "What have you done to him?"

Suzie, rather than looking upset, merely shrugged as if it didn't really matter. "Some of my research requires a living human subject. It's no worse than what UNIT would have done to him for keeping a cyberman hidden."

"That was not your decision to make." He looked around. "I do not have time to deal with you right now, Suzie." He grabbed her and directed her to the SUV after securing a zip-tie around her wrists. He tapped his bluetooth again. "Tosh, I'm bringing Suzie in. Have Owen meet me so he can bring her to the cells. Ianto is missing, and I want to concentrate on finding him. If there's any CCTV in the area, see if you can find him and track him. From what little information I got, he can't have gotten too far. I'll keep an eye open for him on my way back, but I really want to get Suzie secure."

"I'm on it, Jack. We'll find him." Tosh sounded determined as she disconnected the call.

Suzie struggled a little so Jack shot her with a tranquilizer gun. "I told you I don't have time to deal with you, but you didn't listen." He secured her in the passenger seat and started the vehicle. He wondered why Suzie hadn't placed a tracking device in Ianto. Then he had a thought and connected to the hub. "Hey, Tosh? See if Torchwood One put a tracker in Ianto. I'm pretty sure Yvonne made it Standard Operating Procedure for a while so if any of their agents went rogue, they could be tracked and dealt with."

He could hear Tosh shudder. "I dread to think of how they dealt with rogue agents." He could hear clicking in the background. "According to the file on him, he does have one. Now it's just a matter of finding the right frequency. If I'm lucky, that information will still be in the database."

Jack smirked. "Tosh, with you, luck never has anything to do with it. I have every confidence that you'll have the frequency for me to use by the time I get there." With that said, he turned the SUV around and drove back towards the hub.

* * *

_**Author's Note:** I bet a lot of you thought this fic had been abandoned! Let me reassure everyone that not one of my fics, or fic sequels, has been abandoned. If that were the case, I'd take the fic down. Muses, however, are fickle things. I have to write what they dictate or they won't give me anything at all._

_Thanks, as always, to Keara. She points out inconsistancies that I can fix._


End file.
